The first notable law school was the University of Bologna founded during the twelfth century in Italy. Remarkably, it's still in operation today. A twelfth-century legal education was concerned with laws interpreted and applied by the Catholic Church, also known as canon law, as oppose to civil law, which is concerned with "individual rights." Civil law wasn't a dominate topic within a twelfth-century curriculum, as it is today; Starting around the sixteenth century, the Church of England removed itself from the direct control of the Catholic Church and embraced civil law
The American Bar Association (ABA) is an accrediting agency designed to evaluate and put in place academic standards for law schools, as well as standards for ethical codes of conduct pertaining to the legal profession. Within the United Sates, most law degrees are understood as a postgraduate degree from an ABA-approved law school enabling a graduate to take the bar exam. Successfully passing the bar exam is required to practice law within the United Sates as an acting lawyer or attorney. A few states however, California for example, allows graduates from non-ABA law schools to take their state bar exam.
Legal training is considered to be extensive, and requires an accredited 4-year (undergraduate) degree with a high grade point average to be considered by most law schools. Typically, a law degree involves 3 years of full-time study or 4 years of part-time study. Upon successful completion of a law degree the graduate is awarded the title of J.D., or Juris Doctor. Legal training within modern law schools favors both the Socratic method and case study method. The Socratic method involves the analysis of an issue by means of debating opposing view points between two are more students striving to reach a logical conclusion. Case study involves the scientific rigor of researching and testing legal theories against real-life conditions.
A law degree from an ABA-approved law school involves a curriculum usually portioned out within a 3-year time period. Although not an exhaustive list, here are some brief examples of subject matter taught within the first year of law school: 1) Civil procedure which is concerned with the exact processes and methods involved in settling disputes between individuals. 2) Contact law which is concerned with how agreements and promises between individuals or organizations are interpreted and enforced. 3) Constitutional Law I is concerned with individual rights as defined under the U.S. Constitution and examines how government is structured within that context. 4) Criminal Law is concerned with how illegal acts are punished. 5) Tort Law examines how negligence and intention is determined, and how victim compensation is received.
All law degrees, despite geography, are concerned with the proper interpretations and/or legal practices relating to what is ethically, culturally and historically important to that community. For example, determining what rules and regulations most reflects the values of a community and what values are worth enforcing is the theme of a legal education. Acting U.S. lawyers and attorneys participate in this way.